


The Making of a Prince

by wasureneba



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 04:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10549976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasureneba/pseuds/wasureneba
Summary: Severus returns to Hogwarts in his sixth year. His journey on the train is not quite what he expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for HH Sugarquill at Hogwarts is Home; now archived here for safety's sake.

Sixth year did not begin well for Severus Snape.

The summer, of course, had not gone well either. Sent ignominiously back to Spinner's End, he was left without the one thing that had made his parents' house bearable. He had tried so many times to apologize. He had waited outside the Gryffindor common rooms; had desperately tried to catch her eye on the Hogwarts train home; had even sent her several owls in the first weeks of the summer. He had carefully avoided sending them when his father was about, but his mother noticed, and she noticed when they came back unanswered. 14 days, 18 hours, and 37 minutes after he stepped off the Hogwarts Express, Severus gave up on making Lily come around. It wasn't going to happen. 

Mulciber and Avery, at least, sent him the occasional owl, full of wizarding gossip that he had no access to in that dirty Muggle street. Malfoy and the youngest Black engaged; an 'accident' in Diagon Alley that left one dead and five injured; Mulciber's sister's disastrous garden party; Avery's new broom; whispers of the Dark Lord and his inner circle. _Death Eaters_.

When it was time to step through the barrier to platform nine and three-quarters, Severus felt relief wash over him. He was back, at least, in the world that he belonged to, thank every god and goddess that had ever existed and that Severus had never believed in. He could just find Mulciber and Avery, and sit with them and eat a pumpkin pasty or two and relax after three damned months in that damned hole.

He had arrived rather late, and had just got his trunk stowed on the train when it left the station. He walked down the aisle, looking for Mulciber and Avery; they would be in the back of the train, most likely. They usually sat there, telling dirty jokes and plotting new ways to curse the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors (they know enough about the inventiveness of the Ravenclaws to (mostly) leave them alone).

He passed a compartment containing Potter and Black and their little retinue, and brushed past it as quickly as he could without giving more than a glance into the compartment. It wouldn't do to look like he cared---he should seem as if he didn't even see them, as if they were something below his notice---but it was hard, because Lily was standing in the doorway, laughing, her head thrown back. Potter was looking at her with that puppydog look he had, and even Black seemed to be enamoured. He steeled himself and kept moving, and luckily got by before any of them noticed him.

Unfortunately, in his distraction he didn't notice the door open right in front of, or see the form of Tiberius Rookwood leave the compartment. He walked straight into the seventh-year Slytherin. 

"What the he---" the boy began, whirling around to see who had bumped him. "Oh. You." His mouth curled up in a snarl. Rookwood had never been particularly friendly to Severus---too stuck up, with his father well-placed in the Department of Mysteries, and close as any to _him_ \---but he had never been quite this vehement before.

"Who is it?" someone asked from inside the compartment.

"Our favorite Mudblood lover," Rookwood replied. "Like sticks with like, doesn't it?" He turned back to Severus. "Move."

Severus knew better to pick a fight, especially one he was going to be on the losing side of---the compartment was full. He stepped aside, and Rookwood swept around him.

Inside the compartment, Mulciber and Avery sat, looking surprised. "Ignore him," Mulciber said. "His dad's getting stricter than ever, told him not to spend time with anyone who wasn't pureblood or who was---sympathetic. He's overreacting."

Severus raised his brows skeptically and began to turn.

"Seriously," said Avery. "Just get in here. We'll show him if he keeps it up. Everyone knows you're as talented as anyone who's a full pureblood, and besides, you know the rumours---"

"Shut up," Severus hissed. "Don't talk about that."

"Well, he's got more sense than you, Avery," Mulciber replied, slapping Avery on the temple. The other boy whined. "But really, we wouldn't be anywhere if it weren't for halfblood followers, would we?"

" _We_?" asked Severus.

"Like I said, get in here," Mulciber replied. "We've got news."

Severus moved into the compartment quickly, taking a seat as far as possible from the one clearly vacated by Rookwood.

****

Later that evening, Severus sat in his bed, staring at the green curtains. He was still steaming from the incident with Rookwood. The boy had half-apologized; the word _sorry_ was never uttered, but he offered Severus one of the chocolate frogs he got off the trolley lady, which sufficed in delicate situations. Still, he thought. _Mudblood lover. Like sticks with like_. Rookwood was going to pay for that. He might have a Muggle for a father, but he was the son of a pureblood witch going back for generations, and he was far, far better than any Mudblood. Especially her. 

"So what do you think, Snape?" Mulciber asked. He was rummaging in his trunk, throwing things on the bed. Snape had already put his things away.

"I think I'm interested," Severus replied softly. "But I'll need more information."

Mulciber snorted. "Of course."

Snape picked up his new potions book to flip through it before sleeping; he'd been looking forward to getting the chance to read this, as it'd been locked up away from his father after the trip to Diagon Alley. They'd had to buy it secondhand, but it was still in good condition. The spine was solid and the cover intact, although someone had scribbled their name in huge letters all over the inside of the front cover. Severus didn't recognize it as a wizarding name; must be a Muggle name. Like his.

He moved his wand over the name, removing it letter by letter. In a creative fit, he picked up his quill, and wrote neatly, carefully, _Property of the Half-blood Prince_. 

He was not going to stick with her. Not when she was done sticking with him.


End file.
